Love as Cold as Death
by Juvee
Summary: If Juvia's past flowers didn't bloom before will they bloom now? AU
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Welcome to my first fairytail fic! I just love the idea of Juvia being in love triangle between these two awesome ice mages (even though I'm all aboard the Gruvia ship). So, I decided to create this fic that centers around them in a (AU) high school setting. So please enjoy and tell me what you think. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairytail...**

* * *

3 years ago

"I love you," Juvia says finally letting out her pent up emotions out. Now, Juvia almost never addresses herself directly in the 1st person unless it was an emergency. In this case, a declaration of love, on the last day of middle school (ever). She needs to let him know. They stand on the cold rooftop of the school, the December air still chilly as ever, snowing. Gray stands coolly in his spot, hands casually in his pocket, unaffected by the cold air. Juvia gulps and moves closer towards him.

"Gray sama, Juvia understands if you don't accept. Juvia just wants to say that it's been an amazing three years together and Juvia cherishes the fun times we had together. Juvia is just glad to be there for you and Juvia will always be your-" she is cut off with a sudden kiss. Eyes slowly melting like snowflakes melting on the collar of his unbuttoned coat. A hand goes under her chin, gently pulling her away from the kiss. Her eyes are half-lidded, lips parted as if she was asleep in a dream.

"Idiot, don't say shit whenever you want like that," he pulls her closer and whispers in her ear,

" _You are mine_." Her eyes widen, face hot from the heat of his voice despite the cold temperature outside. Their lips join again, with the same words that run through her mind, _you are mine_. Those words that would be left unforgotten for years to remember.

* * *

Present

"Gray sama!" Juvia cries from school gate entrance of Magnolia High. Gray turns around at the sound of his name to find his enthusiastic girlfriend waving and running towards him. She finally catches up to him, huffing and puffing from loss of breath. She regains her composure.

"Are you ready to begin our third year as seniors?" Juvia holds onto Gray's hand and starts walking with him to school's third-year foyer. Gray sighs,

"One year closer of getting out of this school that's for sure." Juvia laughs, she was definitely going to miss this school, that's why she decided she is going to make senior year the best year she will remember. As they walk up to the third year foyer, a boy with salmon pink hair comes up to them out of nowhere.

"Gray!" He points, "I've found you! You can't behind your girlfriend forever!" His eyes flame with excitement. Gray yawns and runs a hand through his black spiky hair.

"Natsu, the only reason I'm not facing you is because, I don't want to make you cry home to your 'daddy'," Gray lazily retaliates. Juvia shakes her head, smiling; they always start the new school year or semester with a bang.

"Come on, this is our last year, one of the last tests to see who's the strongest in this school," Natsu clenches his fist directly in front of Gray's face. Gray raises an eyebrow and smacks his fist out of his face.

"Fine, same place?" Gray asks not missing a beat.

"You bet!" Natsu snickers, "And don't be late, I don't want to miss dinner when I'm winning," with a warning, he stalks off into the crowd of new seniors.

"It's usually him, that's late, kicking his ass" Gray says to Juvia. Juvia giggles. They change into their brown third-year shoes and walk together to check their class. Class 3B. Juvia screams with excitement, _I'm with Gray sama_! She tugs on Gray's arm, who's busy checking the list of people in their class, intently.

"Gray sama, Gray sama!" Juvia continues to tug on Gray's arm for his attention.

"Huh, what?" Gray looks at Juvia a few seconds later with a lost look in his eyes. Juvia notices this and asks,

"Are you ok? You seem lost about something," Gray waves her off,

"I'm fine; I was just blanking out for a sec. So we're in the same class," Gray smirks devilishly at her. Juvia furiously blushes. They walk up to their class and see that already the class is packed with loud seniors.

"Alright settle down," they hear the voice of the homeroom teacher come inside the class. The class settles down and takes their seats.

"Hey don't get too comfortable because you're going to have to change seats." The class of students groans in response. Juvia taps her desk nervously; will she get a seat next to her Gray sama? The teacher finally says her name,

"Loxar Juvia, 2nd row, the top left corner next to Vastia Lyon by the window," the teacher points to her new seat. Juvia's heart skips a beat, no Gray sama? Juvia looks at her new desk buddy who looks back with curiosity. He has light silver-blue hair that is styled up, with bangs that partially cover one side of his eye. Onyx eyes that is sharp, showing no fear in them. He turns his head towards the window with elbows leaning casually on his desk. Juvia takes her seat quietly. The teacher after a while calls out Gray's name. Gray smiles as he takes his seat next to a blond girl named Lucy Heartfilia. Juvia notices his seat very far away from hers and mentally curses.

"Alright before you introduce yourselves, I'll be fair and introduce myself first, I'm Mr. Fernandes, 26 years old; I once used to sit in your very seats when I was a student here. I enjoy teaching others and learning a few things myself. This is my 3rd year teaching so I look forward with working with you." Mr. Fernandes finishes his introduction.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" One brave girl asks from the class. The class hoots with curiosity. Mr. Fernandes blushes a little and rubs the back of his neck.

"I'll keep that a secret for now," Mr. Fernandes dodges the question and takes his own seat. This excites the class more with curiosity. The rest of the homeroom class is filled with intros about themselves. Juvia sees it's almost her turn, starts to tap her feet nervously, anticipating her turn after her partner is done.

"Vastia Lyon, I don't like anything in particular, but one thing I do love is winter or cold weather. It kind of suits my personality in a way; I feel more in my zone, relaxed. I'm not afraid to take on any new challenges, so hit me with your best shot," Lyon sits down, concluding his introduction. Juvia tilts her head at him with interest; _he's kinda like Gray sama._

"Next!" Juvia snaps out of her thoughts and stands up.

"Hello, Loxar Juvia, is who Juvia is. Juvia likes water parks, swimming or anything water related," she says nervously, some laughs and giggles escape from the class, "Juvia plans on making senior year the best year, so Juvia plans on working with you all," she quickly finishes her intro hastily and sits down.

"Isn't that the girl who speaks in the third person?"

"Yeah it is!"

"What age does she think she is, three?" The class snorts in laughter. Juvia can feel her cheeks burn up as the whispers get increasingly louder. She keeps her sight guarded, afraid to look at them.

"I think it's amazing!" a voice says loudly enough to make all of the whispers stop at once. Juvia looks up to see that is and sees it's that Lyon guy.

"Yea, I think it's cool, something out of the ordinary. It shows she's different; she's her own person, not like the people you see today: plastic, cheap, fake. So if you have a problem with it, then you are one of these quote unquote plastic, cheap people." He looks at the class, one by one, death in his glare. The class backs off and stays quiet. Juvia looks at Lyon with astonishment. His eyes are head strong, attentive and ready. How can someone who barely knows her, say so many beautiful things as if he knew her already? He glances at her and Juvia immediately averts her gaze. Gray leans back in chair, watching the whole thing unfold. Mr. Fernandes smiles and says,

"I think it's unique as well; it brings a new splash of color to our everyday lives. Thank you, Mr. Vastia, for such a beautiful interpretation and thank you Ms. Loxar for being in this class. Well, I think that's enough intros for today, we'll finish tomorrow if we have time." The bell rings signaling homeroom has officially ended.

"I will see you all as your chemistry teacher later," Mr. Fernandes gathers his items and exits out of the classroom. Sometime later, a woman with long straight scarlet hair enters the room.

"Hello class, I am Ms. Scarlet and I will be teaching math," she says in a serious, simple tone, "So to test, your knowledge, I will give you a quiz on what you learned so far before coming into this class," she passes out the quizzes. The class complains loudly. Ms. Scarlet gives them a look and says,

"Not one more complaint or you're all getting automatic _zeros_ ," The class begrudgingly takes out their supplies. Juvia's hands search for her pencil case in her bag, but it's gone. Then it hits her, she forgot to pack it in her bag when she was sharpening them extra sharp last night. Juvia looks around the room, frantic, in desperate need of a pencil. Lyon notices Juvia's uneasy behavior and pokes her in the shoulder. She looks at him with nervous eyes and mouths pencil. Lyon sighs, taking out a pencil.

"Here," Lyon whispers as he passes the pencil to Juvia discreetly. Juvia takes the pencil quickly and smiles at his kindness. As the hours of the day slowly come to an end, third-year students rush to get out of their classes and into to their old clubs, where they will be greeted with the utmost respect by their fellow underclassmen. Juvia packs her items and notices Lyon about to leave.

"Oh! Lyon san, your pencil!" Juvia hands Lyon his pencil she borrowed. Lyon looks at his pencil and then at her,

"Keep it," he says softly. Juvia gets taken back by this but nevertheless accepts it back.

"Thank you, and thank you again for this morning, Juvia appreciates you for sticking up for her." Juvia thanks, Lyon sincerely. The corners of his lips tug into a smile.

"I just said what I felt," Lyon says without taking his eyes off her. Juvia gives him a confused look. He takes his bag and leaves the classroom without saying another word. Gray comes up to Juvia,

"You ready to leave?" He asks her. Juvia looks at Gray and nods her head, smiling.

"What's that in your hand?" Gray looks over at Juvia's hand.

"Nothing!" Juvia quickly closes her hand around the pencil, careful of the tip and puts it behind her back. Gray raises an eyebrow, holds her other hand and walks out of the classroom. Juvia looks at the pencil she holds in her hand and puts into her pocket.

* * *

"Where is he?" Natsu asks impatiently. A couple of third years shrug their shoulders. The sun is slowly starting to die down, leaving the sky a beautiful red-orange color. The fight is located in a park not far from the school. Natsu, frustrated shouts out,

"Gray! Gray, where are you? Stop being a chicken and come on out!" No reply. He wasn't even answering his phone. Some people from a crowd of students, who came to watch them duke it out, start to leave out of boredom. Natsu turns to the people starting to leave,

"Hey! Come on guys, you can't leave now, you're gonna miss the fight." One of the students gives him a look and flat out says,

"Dude, what's the point in staying here if there is no fight, I have actual things to do than to waste my time here." The crowd of students starts whispering amongst themselves, realizing that there may not be any fight at all. Natsu starts to pull on his scarf and yells at the moving crowd,

"Ok, fine don't blame me, if you miss the fight of the century. I mean how many people you know actually fight like this. You, people, are missing a lifetime opportunity and for what, homework? It's the first day of school so relax and those of you who are new to this; you'll never witness a fight like this. Don't believe me? Ask any senior." Some "yeah"'s come from the crowd. Someone chants out "Gray" and then like wildfire, slowly the whole crowd chants out "Gray".

"Natsu, it doesn't take me that long to kick your ass." Natsu whirls around on a familiar voice.

"Gray! So now you decided to come." Natsu puts his hands on his hips.

"I've been here the whole time… I heard your little speech," Gray laughs a little.

"Good, then you should know I'm gonna wipe the floor off you!" Natsu gives him smug grin.

"Don't get cocky,-" But Gray gets interrupted by Natsu's fist blowing through his cheek. Gray goes down hard on the floor. Some "oooh"s escape from the crowd. Juvia closes her fists, knowing she has to restrain from beating the living daylights out of the person who hurt her Gray sama. Gray brushes his mouth with the back of his hand, checking for blood. Seeing that there is some, he rips his uniform shirt off and body checks Natsu. Juvia melts at the sight of Gray's upper body, hard muscles from all those years of ice hockey. Natsu starts to get up, but Gray swiftly knocks him off his feet, sending him to the ground hard. Gray comes to him, about to finish his last move. But Natsu says,

"Hey Gray, guess what?"

"What." Natsu breathes full onto Gray's face directly and immediately Gray pulls away, gagging.

"What the hell was that?" Gray says, still coughing from Natsu's acidic breath.

"I call that the Fire Dragon's breath, it's where I eat a bunch of really spicy food and on then at certain time, I let all of it out in a single burp, breathing motion. It's still a work in progress," Natsu laughs wickedly. Gray rubs his eyes, unable to get burning sensation out which gives Natsu enough time to get back at Gray.

"Gray sama!" Juvia yelps as she sees Natsu carry Gray and throw him off the ground. Gray gets up slowly with slow breaths. His eyes are still throbbing. Natsu and Gray stand opposite to each other, tired, restless from throwing punches. The atmosphere is now quiet and deadly. Natsu, deciding to end the quietness, runs up to Gray with a punch. Gray, still quiet and composed catches Natsu's punch. Natsu counters by using his other hand to punch, but then Gray catches the other hand too. Gray acts quickly and brings his knee to Natsu's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Then Gray head butts Natsu hard and with a dizzy motion, Natsu finally falls down. The crowd waits for a few seconds before cheering for Gray, deeming him the winner. Juvia jumps with joy! Gray comes up to Natsu and helps him get up.

"Natsu, you're finally putting more of a fight," Gray says smirking. Natsu holds onto Gray's shoulder and says.

"Just wait and see next time, I'll really perfect that Fire Dragon's breath." Natsu smiles. Gray goes over to Juvia, who seems happy as ever.

"Juvia, wait here for 10 minutes, I have to do something important, then we'll walk home." Gray says giving her his shirt. Juvia doesn't argue and happily takes his shirt. Gray leaves and Juvia sits at a park bench, folding Gray's shirt. 20 minutes have passed and still Gray hasn't shown up yet. Juvia starts to worry that something bad may have happened to Gray. Juvia gets up.

"Gray sama!" Juvia calls but no answer. She searches the whole park until she finally finds him. He's by a fence, away from the scattered crowd, talking to some girl. She's looks familiar, but Juvia just can't put her finger on it. She observes them, they're laughing and the girl touches Gray's arm casually. Gray doesn't seem to mind it all and whispers something into her ear. She laughs even more. The sound of her laughter makes Juvia sick to her stomach, she drops Gray's shirt on the ground and leaves the sight. _She's probably his relative or something_ , Juvia reassures herself in her head. She rushes past the crowd of people who are still lingering after the fight. They tell her to watch where's she going but Juvia ignores them. All she can think about is who could be that girl with Gray and more importantly what's her relationship to Gray. Her mind is slowly drifting into nervous, deep thoughts. She bumps into someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're going Juvia." Natsu says, who's on the floor, rubbing his head. Juvia vanishes from her previous state and apologizes,

"Oh, sorry Natsu kun! I was just thinking in my head." Natsu raises his eyebrow,

"Weren't you with Gray or something?" Juvia freezes for a moment before answering,

"Oh he said he was busy so he told me to go on ahead," Juvia smiles.

"Whatever," Natsu doesn't inquire further. Juvia steps around Natsu and makes her escape from the scene.

* * *

Juvia walks home, the noise of the crowd slowly withering away. She feels a drop of water on her cheek. She looks up to the sky and sees the dark clouds forming, indicating some showers. But Juvia doesn't mind it, she's always had an affinity for water. On her way, she passes by her old middle school, Fairy Academy. Her eyes immediately follow the rooftop where she confessed to Gray. _"You are mine"_ those words were kept in her heart. Juvia feels her heart tighten. She wonders if those words will ever leave her and find someone else. Time can only tell...


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello I am back. Please don't stone me because I was late, I had a lot of life stuff to take care of :/ I want to thank y'all for the reviews, follows and faves. It really makes my day :) Anyway, enjoy the 2nd ch.**

* * *

" _Juvia I don't love you anymore," Gray says flatly, his back turned away from her. Juvia widens her eyes and clenches the back of Gray's shirt in her fist,_

" _Gray sama please don't say that. I'll be a better person, Juvia promises!" Tears are running down her eyes but she doesn't care. Gray jerks away from her touch out of disgust,_

" _I'm done with this pathetic relationship. I've found someone else." He starts to walk away from her presence._

" _No Gray sama, don't leave me," Juvia chases after Gray but she isn't fast enough. He's already gone…_

She wakes up suddenly, sweat running down her face and hands, shaking.

"Beep beep beep," Juvia's Hello Kitty alarm clock goes off. She turns it off and puts a hand on her sticky forehead. Thank goodness it was just a dream she thinks. She tries to keep her breathing leveled before heading into the shower. After she comes out of the shower and gets changed, she checks her charging phone. Two missed calls and a text from Gray saying, "Where were you?" It was sent yesterday at 7:02 p.m. but by then her battery was dead. She didn't bother to charge it until yesterday night before going to bed. But never mind that, Juvia smiles thinking, _he was at least concerned._ She decides to save texting him and tell him in person about yesterday. Today, she wasn't going to let whatever happened yesterday get in her way; today is a new day.

* * *

As she arrives at the school entrance, she sees Gray at the same spot he was yesterday. She sneaks up behind him and put her arms around his middle in a warm embrace. Hopefully, he wasn't going to turn his back away from her.

"Wonder who could it be?" Gray muses before turning around to see Juvia.

"Juvia." Juvia smiles at him. Gray's smirk fades away into a more serious expression.

"Juvia, where were you yesterday? I called and texted but," Gray begins. Juvia lets go of him and says,

"I'm sorry Gray; Juvia wasn't feeling good yesterday so she went home early. Her battery died so she couldn't check her phone until much later. Please forgive her." Gray gives her a disdained look and says,

"No." Juvia feels her heart tighten, fearing that her worst nightmare has come true.

"What," she croaks.

"I'm joking, I just wanted to see your reaction," Gray gives a pat on her head.

"Gray sama…" Juvia gives him a pout but on the inside, she is relieved. As they walk to class, Juvia looks at Gray who seems stuck with that serious expression of his. Was he not excited to see her back then, it was almost as if he was disappointed? _Was he expecting someone else?_ No, no, she shakes her head, she mustn't think of these thoughts. She was probably overthinking the whole scene. She has to trust him. They finally enter the room with only a few minutes to spare.

"Hey Gray, great fight yesterday," one of Gray's classmates slaps him on the back. Gray laughs,

"It was nothing," Gray glances at Juvia and says,

"I'm going to go with them." Juvia nods her head and he is off. Juvia looks around the classroom, there are not many people she knows or are friends with. She looks over at Lyon who is in his seat looking outside the window. He seems so calm despite all the ruckus of the classroom. Does he have any friends to talk to?

"Good morning Lyon san," Juvia cheerfully greets. Lyon looks at her surprisngly and replies,

"Oh um good morning." Juvia sits down in her seat.

"So… how are you?" Juvia can already feel the awkwardness filling in.

"Just fine," he says, and then after a short pause, asks, "You?"

"Great," she smiles. The bell rings, then the one after that and then so on and so forth until the lunch period reaches. Juvia gets up from her seat and grabs her lunch.

"See you later, Lyon san," she waves before leaving with Gray down to the cafeteria.

"Bye," he says but she's left.

* * *

"...Gajeel comes up from behind and gives me a German suplex. Then Ms. Scarlett walks in at the most convenient time, sees me lying on the floor and you what she does, she gives me homeroom duty!" Natsu exclaims. He takes a big bite of his burger and chews angrily.

"You should have been more careful, Ms. Scarlett has zero tolerance for almost everything or anyone," Gray warns Natsu. Natsu keeps eating,

"Yeah, you're probably right. I bet she's a cat lady who doesn't have friends or a guy," Natsu sneers. Gray shakes his head, laughing. Juvia looks at the both of them and smiles. They are seated across from each other like always for the last two years and their amusing conversations never seem to get old. Gray looks at his tray and comments,

"Oh shoot, I forgot my bottle of water."

"You can have my water," Juvia hands her bottle happily. Gray waves her off,

"Nah you keep it, I'll just get one right now." With that, he is off. Juvia's smile fades away as she sets her water aside. Natsu notices Juvia's eyes cast down and questions,

"Juvia are you feeling okay because you've been kinda quiet?" Juvia looks up, wide eyed at him.

"What! Juvia feels fine; she's just sleepy today that's all."

"Yeah but you're never this quiet," Natsu presses. Juvia thinks to herself, _has she always been louder than this_. The thought never occurred to her before.

"I guess there's a first time for everything," Natsu opens his mouth to protest, but Gray comes right on time.

"Hey what I miss?" He looks at the both of them.

"Nothing!" Juvia springs immediately.

"Okay," Gray sits down in his spot and opens his bottle of water. Natsu widens his eyes, remembering something, he shakes Gray vigorously.

"Gray, Gray!" Water drops on Gray's shirt and he coughs out harshly,

"What!?" He glares at Natsu, ready to reach out and wring his neck.

"I finally got that new video game in the mail yesterday; are you coming over today?" Gray lights up, forgetting his anger,

"Dude, I was going to get it this week but I should've preordered."

"Yeah so are you in?"

"I-"

"No, Gray sama has hockey practice," Juvia finishes for Gray.

"Oh yeah," Gray sighs.

"Yaaawn, that's boring, skip," Natsu yawns dramatically.

"Natsu kun do you remember the last time you made Gray sama skip?" Juvia asks ever so sweet. Natsu looks beyond as if he was experiencing a flashback. He makes a horrified face and then looks back at her and Gray.

"You know what it's ok, come over some other time. Just whatever you do, don't miss practice." The bell rings and he dashes out of there.

"Impressive," Gray smirks at her. Juvia giggles; she was starting to feel better already.

* * *

Gray speeds around the ice with the puck, successfully dodging every guy that comes his way. He sees an opening around the cascading defense and smirks. He first passes the puck to his teammate who dances around with it for a bit before passing to Gray, who slap shots it toward the net. The goalie unable to catch the puck, it goes in. Juvia cheers for him behind the glass. Gray gathers with his teammates, who congratulate him on a tough shot.

"Alright practice over," The coach calls and the guys go straight to the locker room. After fifteen minutes, he comes out and meets with Juvia who is waiting for him by the front.

"Hey," he says casually.

"You were great, Gray sama!" Juvia says.

"Like always," he winks. Juvia couldn't argue with that but there was something this time, which really set the tone. As his loyal girlfriend, she would always go to all the games and practices. If Gray was there, it would automatically mean that she would have to be there. She knew how important hockey was for him, she remembers him saying once that it made him feel like his was in his own element.

"So should we eat somewhere...?" Juvia wonders.

"Sure, I'm up for it," Gray says. They ended up picking a cafe not far from the rink. It wasn't crowded; the cafe had dim lighting, slow music, and lots of wooden benches. It blended really well with the warm atmosphere it was giving. They both order at the front and within ten minutes the food arrives.

"Time to dig in," Gray takes a big bite of his sandwich. Juvia ordered some salad but she notices they forgot the dressing.

"I'll be back," she says. She walks up to the front and calls the guy in front of her. He turns around and says,

"Yes?" He looks like…

"Lyon san," Juvia repeats, "You work here?" Lyon rubs his neck and blushes,

"Yeah, it's my part-time job."

"That's cool," she grins. Lyon put his elbows on the counter and asks,

"So what are you doing here?" Now it's Juvia's turn to blush,

"Juvia was with Gray sama." Lyon leans forward to the right, to see Gray sitting on a table, devouring his sandwich.

"Ahh, _of course_ ," his voice drops to a low tone, "Was there something you needed?"

"Juvia needs some salad dressing," Juvia says awkwardly.

"Flavor?"

"Anything is fine..." Lyon comes back with some dressing,

"Here." He avoids eye contact.

"Thanks, See you tomorrow then," Juvia says softly. Lyon gives an acknowledging nod and continues doing his work. He has that quiet look again, similar from the ones he gives off before homeroom starts. _What could it mean,_ that he doesn't want to be bothered?

* * *

" _Do you Juvia Loxar take Gray Fullbuster to be your lawful wedded husband?"_

" _Juvia does," Juvia says lovingly. She squeezes on to the bouquet of white and blue roses in her hand to contain her excitement._

" _Now do you Gray Fullbuster take Juvia Loxar to be your lawful wedded wife?" Juvia looks at him so lovingly; there is no possible way he will say,_

" _No," Gray says. The audience gasps. Juvia drops her bouquet and stutters,_

" _Gray sama what are you doing?" Gray squint at her in the most hateful manner._

" _Something I should have done years ago," he walks out on her._

" _Gray sama, you're making a terrible mistake. Come back!" She walks after him but trips on the skirt of her white, lace dress. The audience gives a choir of mocking laughs, each and every one of them laughing at her stupidity._

Juvia wakes up, breathing hard. Her eyes dart to the clock, its 3:12 a.m. Her books and pencils are scattered all over her bed. She puts all of her items into her bag, changes into her pajamas and closes the light. Time passes and she is unable to go back to sleep. Her eyes are awake because her soul is afraid to fall asleep. If she does those nightmares will come back and haunt her. She wishes Gray were here somehow...

"Maybe he can," she says. She grabs her phone and dials up Gray's number. It rings until a very tired Gray picks up,

"Juvia? What are you doing up this hour?" She laughs,

"It's not that late,"

"It's 3:34 in the morning." He stifles a yawn.

"But Juvia couldn't fall asleep, there's something that's been bugging her," Juvia says truthfully.

"Yeah?" He drawls.

"Gray sama, I need to know, do you still love me?" She goes out and says it.

"Huh? You call me in the middle of the night to ask if I love you or not?" His voice is becoming less drowsy. Juvia squeezes the phone by her ear,

"Just answer the question, _please_." There's a slight pause in the line before Gray answers,

"Juvia you should know my answer by now." Why does he have to give an answer like that? _No_ , she has to hear it directly from him.

"Which is?"

"Which is what? You don't think I love you or something," Juvia can tell he's becoming aggravated.

"No, no, it's not that. Juvia-" She starts to protest.

"Then there's your answer," Gray wastes no time in answering, "I've got to go to sleep Juvia, you get some also. Night."

"Bye," she says before he ends the line. She lies back on her bed with a sigh. Gray was so easy to cut her off; she has to get to the bottom of this matter sooner or later. Her eyes flicker to the clock, first she'll have to get some sleep before anything big happens.

* * *

"Juvia wake up! WAKE UP!" Juvia's mom shakes her out of bed and she falls down on the floor.

"Huuh!?" She says raising her head, eyes still partially closed.

"Juvia, I am not driving you to school, so you better get up now," Juvia's mom warns before slamming the door shut. Juvia gets up suddenly and looks at her clock. She has less than twenty minutes! Juvia makes a run to her bathroom having no time to shower, she comes out and puts her uniform on hastily. She looks at herself, her hair is out of place, eyes have dark rings around them, and she looks absolutely monstrous. But she has no time to fix everything all at once, so she puts her unbrushed hair in a ponytail and grabs her bag. She skips breakfast, realizing she won't have time for that as well. She runs to school and crosses the road without waiting for the "okay" signal to appear. A car rushes fast, and…

"Are you okay!?" a feminine voice asks her. Juvia fazed about the events that just occurred looks up at her rescuer.

"Lucy?" Lucy is holding on tight to Juvia on the side of the road, her head cradled against her chest. The car has stopped and the driver steps out,

"Are you two alright? Juvia and Lucy!?" The driver is none other than Ms. Scarlett herself, their infamous math teacher. Lucy assures,

"I think we're fine Ms. Scarlett, just a little spooked." Ms. Scarlett crosses her arms and adjusts her glasses,

"You kids should really watch the signals, even when you think there are no vehicles crossing. Remember, traffic signals are there for a reason." Juvia speaks up,

"It was my fault; Juvia was careless to see the signal to walk. Lucy was only trying to help Juvia." Juvia looks back at Lucy, "Thank you Lucy." Lucy returns her smile. Ms. Scarlett looks at her watch and says,

"Well we only have five minutes left, if you want I can give you a lift." They both look at each other and nod. After Ms. Scarlett's insane driving, they arrive a little after homeroom starts and Ms. Scarlett offers to go to speak with their homeroom teacher to explain their situation. They stand at the doorstep, where they see Mr. Fernandes is taking attendance. Ms. Scarlett coughs a little to bring his attention.

"Erza?" Mr. Fernandes says looking up at her, surprised. The class immediately starts chattering ooo's and ah's. Mr. Fernandes blushes and coughs out, "I mean Ms. Scarlett."

"I have Ms. Loxar and Ms. Heartfilia here, we had a run in accident, sort of situation and I'm here to explain that they are not absent nor tardy," Ms. Scarlett solemnly explains.

"Alright, I won't mark them off," Mr. Fernandes checks. Juvia and Lucy return quietly to their seats. Ms. Scarlett shifts her eyes to the chattering class,

"I'll be seeing you all next period, be prepared for a surprise." The class groans, knowing her "surprise" is probably a pop quiz. Ms. Scarlett leaves the class in their own distress.

"Where was I, oh yeah-" Mr. Fernandes continues taking attendance. Juvia looks back at Lucy, who seems to be talking to Gray. He appears to be concerned over the few scratches she has on her face. While Lucy, on the other hand, is brushing them off as nothing. From that angle, Lucy looks familiar like Juvia has seen her someone similar to her in a different setting. Juvia closes her eyes and tries to remember.

"Juvia, are you okay?" Lyon whispers suddenly, she replies sadly,

" _I'm fine_."


End file.
